Er... I'm not sure why anyone would believe that monopoly could provide a lower price. The only problem a monopoly solves is whether the good or service is to

Er... I'm not sure why anyone would believe that monopoly could provide a lower price. The only problem a monopoly solves is whether the good or service is to be continuously available in the market or not. You might allow a monopoly if the alternative is periods of competition interleaved with periods where there are no firms left in the market at all. If you choose to grant a monopoly, prices will be higher, and supply more constrained, but the good or service will always be available to the highest bidders. You're never going to get a lower price out of one, unless the owners are impossibly altruistic.